Encounter

“Another impressive shot, Miss Agafya.”

I am currently practicing archery in the outskirts of the forest, one of the hunters observes me patiently. It has been one year since the incident at Lake Eibsee, after which I figured out that investing all my energy into exploration and potion-making abilities would not get me that far once I start facing real danger. If I want to survive the outside world where everything is out to kill me, I need some offensive power, so I forced one of the hunters to give me a bow and started practicing archery every day.

“Wanna see a new trick.”

I shot an arrow into the sky and after a few seconds, it descends with an incredible force to hit a perfect bullseye into the piece of wood I have been using as a target.

“As expected of an Apprentice, you have surpassed us in a few months.”

“I wish. That was a magic projectile more than an arrow.”

The poor elf did not notice, but the arrow I just shot was charged with mana. Using all my courage and after thinking about it for a whole week, I took Lelyah’s suggestion and started studying magic with her. I am still nowhere near the level of an actual Mage, but at least I can imbue the arrows with mana and then use spatial magic to manipulate their direction and speed a little.

“I still need to practice my technique a lot more.”

“Miss Agafya. Pardon my rudeness but, is it okay for you to be here?”

“You mean, because of tomorrow?”

“Yes, our candidates have been busy with Cedric since yesterday, preparing everything to leave after the ceremony.”

“I thought I was the only one leaving.”

“No Miss Agafya, we have three candidates. I hope they can become great hunters.”

“Is that so?  Well, you don’t have to worry; I am more than ready to leave.”

I am not ready at all. In fact, I could not sleep last night and the only reason I am wasting my time here is to keep myself from thinking about the ceremony.

The elf the Mothers are going to adopt is arriving from Tagetes later today and I do not want to see how much of a failure I am compared with her. Fortunately, we will only have to get along during the ceremony and once that ends, I will be free. Luckily, knowing how elves are, she will not be interested in being friends or even talking to me if it is not necessary.

“Have you ever been to Tagetes?”

“I am afraid not. I spent my ten years outside the village in a guild at Listeria.”

How boring. My plan so far is to spend those ten years traveling as much as I can and practicing magic. If I come back and fail then so be it, at least I would have lived ten years as a decent member of society. If I succeed, once I am recognized as a Mage I would probably be able to find any excuse to leave the village whenever I want.

“Is Listeria as big as they say?”

“Back when I was there, it was as big as the village. But that was before they conquered the demon tribes around Mount Krel.”

“It should be even bigger now then. Around the size of Saitama probably.”

“Saitama…?”

“It’s nothing. I should be going, please tell Mother Lelyah I will be back before lunch if you see her.”

I started packaging my arrows and making sure the bow was in perfect condition before entering the forest.

“Understood, Miss Agafya.”

There is one last thing I must do here before leaving, get some flowers. Specifically a solaris, a large silver flower with seven fluffy round petals. Whenever I look at it, it reminds me of Lada’s beautiful hair, so I think it is the best one to leave her as my parting gift.  It is sad to think about it, but no one will be visiting the made up grave I prepared for her inside the forest for the next ten years.

The solaris only grows where there are arachnias, a giant spider monster that acts as a great pest control service for the flowers. My best bet at finding one are the swamps that form near Lake Eibsee.

“This long walks really make me miss listening to music.”

The first thing I want to do once I leave the village is to go party at the city. Alcohol, sweets, music and greasy food, I want it all. I am done with this puritan elven life.

Thinking about my unhealthy habits before coming to this world was a great way to lose track of time and, before I knew it, I was deep inside into the forest. Walking here every day has made my body remember every location naturally; it is somewhat scary considering how I was during most of my other life. A socially awkward bookworm with no ambition, nor energy to do outdoor activities.

“I should have done this yesterday.”

I stop for a bit to drink water and scan my surroundings.

“It’s way too quiet.”

Unless we are deep into the winter, the forest is always brimming with sounds from all the animals living here. Right now, I can only hear the running water from the lake nearby.

“Maybe I should go back. Something doesn’t feel right.”

I advance cautiously to hide my presence. My pessimistic side immediately guessed that someone else might be around here and they scared all the animals in this zone. The last thing I want is another deadly encounter the day before the ceremony.

“What the… an earthquake?”

Not even being pessimistic helped me guess this one. A loud crash made the earth and myself shake for a few seconds. When I looked back, my worst nightmare became true. A kingor threw a big piece of wood at me, missing just for a few centimeters.

“This is my punishment for wanting to skip the welcome party.”

I start running for my life. The kingor is a massive red ape with four big mammoth-like tusks, it is an extremely territorial creature which usually lives in the side of forest closest to Mount Krel. It is so rare to encounter them around here that this is my first time seeing one in person. I hoped that he would not follow me, but I can already hear him causing a catastrophe behind, at this rate, he is going to catch me in a few minutes. I have two options, run back to village until he thinks he succeeded in taking me out of his territory or lose him by going deeper into the forest.

“Shut!”

Just as I was considering my next move, a rock flew by my right ear. The second option it is, even if I wanted I will not survive long enough for the first one.

“Let’s see if you can keep up.”

I turn right and start doing zigzags between all the trees, if I continue following this route I will reach the swamps in no time. I hope that the muddy terrain and scattered puddles are going to give my small body the advantage on the race.  

The kingor’s angry roars make the whole forest tremble and I fear for my life more every second. It he catches me, it is game over, there is no way I can survive his attacks. I can see all kinds of rocks and branches being thrown at me.

“I am almost there.”

Just as I am seeing the swamps up front, I hear the biggest roar so far and tearing through all the trees beside me, the kingor appears.

“So you can jump too.”

I see him preparing to attack; this is bad, he is way too close. I take one step back and embrace for the impact. The kingor sends me flying with just the tip of his fingers.

“Ugh…”

Miraculously it was not a direct hit and nothing seems to be broken. My arms hurt really bad, I am completely confused, but other than that, I seem to be okay. I stand up and the kingor is in front of me, his attack put some distance between us and now he is furiously waiting for my next move.

“It is time to consider the third option.”

I draw my bow and prepare an arrow charging it with my mana. The third option, to kill him.

With my abilities, getting a headshot should be a piece of cake, but that would also mean my demise. At this point, it is a decision between dying or turning into a fallen elf.

“Or not…”

I noticed something by my feet, a potion. The previous attack tore the pouch hanging from my belt and all my things are scattered around the ground. Incidentally, the thing closest to me could be my salvation.

The kingor, after noticing my fighting stance, is coming with full force towards me to deliver the final blow.

“It is now or never.”

Just as he is about to reach me, I kick the small bottle with all my strength into the air and prepare to shoot.

“Not yet…”

I can see the monster in front of me raising his hand to hit me.

“Just one more second…”

He lowers his body a little. The impact is imminent.

“NOW!”

I shoot directly at the bottle mid-fall next to the kingor’s face and release all the mana from the arrow at once, causing a small explosion and breaking the potion. Immediately after that, I roll into the ground and, by sheer luck, the monster misses stepping on me.

“It worked!”

Behind me, the kingor tumbles into the ground destroying a few trees in the process. The contents of the potion must have exploded directly into his face as I had planned. Whenever I go out exploring, I always carry a relaxing potion. A few drops are the perfect remedy to alleviate the pain in my legs from walking too much.  This time, that same potion saved my life; enough of it should have entered the kingor’s mouth and nose to paralyze him.

“I should go get Cedric, it’s not normal for a kingor to be here.”

My whole body hurts from all the tension and the previous attack. As I am slowly standing up, I notice an immense mana approaching my location at an incredible speed.

“You have to be kidding me.”

What now, a dragon. While I am still trying to analyze the situation, a spell starts to from around the kingor and a few seconds later, it disappears with him.

“Don’t worry, I just sent him back home.”

I grab my bow once again, startled by an unexpected voice talking behind me. Before I could identify the culprit, a curative spell covers my body and recovers my strength.

“Mother Lelyah!”

“Nope. It pains me to be compared with that boring grandma. I’m a hundred times more beautiful.”

“Who are you?”

An elf I have never seen stood before me, dressed in a blue robe covering most of her body except for the legs and holding a staff bigger than her. She was beautiful of course, with short grey hair, big round bronze eyes and a tall athletic body.

“You can call me Jane.”

“Jane?”

What a weird name for an elf.

“Would you prefer Mother Jane then?”

She smiled and stuck out her tongue in a playful manner. This person just keeps giving me some strange vibes. My gut tells me I should get out of here as soon as possible.

“What are they teaching you at the village nowadays? Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

“I’m A-agafya…”

The elf got closer to me and inclined her body a little to look directly into my eyes. Her friendly demeanor and imposing aura were making me self-conscious.

“Hehe… So Agafya, where are you from?”

What does she mean and what is it with her creepy laugh. Why is she being so friendly, it is so weird seeing an elf behaving like that, is that how I look to everyone at the village? Now I feel sorry for them.

As a thank you for healing me, I will just play along for a couple of minutes and dash out of here as soon I have an opportunity.

“From the elven village?”

“No silly, I already know that. I mean, where on earth did you come from?”

What did she just say?